Some links for Sunday afternoon..
- The Dodgers have become an embarrassment to the sport of baseball, writes Troy Renck of The Denver Post.
- Brewers right fielder Corey Hart is set to return on Tuesday and the club will have to clear a roster spot, writes MLB.com's Adam McCalvy. Unfortunately for Milwaukee, both Erick Almonte and the recently-promoted Brandon Boggs are out of options.
- Although Chris Sampson was somewhat shocked on April 1st when he learned that the Rockies would be releasing him, he was optimisitic that opportunities would likely fall into his lap toward the end of April, writes Stephen Goff of Examiner.com. Sampson signed a minor-league deal with the Marlins yesterday.
- Michael Silverman of the Boston Herald sees Jarrod Saltalamacchia's coronation as the Red Sox's starting catcher as being indicative of the lack of catching depth in the majors.
- Cutter Dykstra isn't exactly expected to accomplish what his father did, writes Bob Brookover of the Philadelphia Inquirer. The 21-year-old was recently shipped to the Nationals from the Brewers.
- The Yankees no longer have the largest payroll of any sports team on the planet as a pair of soccer teams have unseated them, according to Nick Harris of Sporting Intelligence.
So Cutter isn’t going to squander his money, get into criminal activity, and go to jail?
You forgot “use steroids.”
Saltalamacchia, is a product of Theo thinking he has all the answers. No way the Sox should have gone into the season with just Salt and Varitek. Especially when there were so many FA catchers out there. How nice would it have been for the Sox to sign R. Martin. But the front office red flagged him as damaged goods.
weird then that they made him a multimillion dollar offer
Theo usually does have all the answers though. A pair of trophies seems to indicate that at least.
A lineup like that can afford to have a few weak bats at the bottom. Although it might have been a good idea to sign an all-defense catcher to back up a 60 year old and a guy who struggled with throwing the ball back to the pitcher.
So many FA catchers? There weren’t as many choices out there as you’re trying to sell. There was VMart but the Sox questioned his ability to catch long term, everyone thinks he’ll be a 1B/DH very soon. There was Buck, I want the Sox to get him but as I recall he signed pretty quickly and for a price tag that a lot of people weren’t expecting. As for Martin, I recall the Sox offer being right up there with the yanks.
In the end Theo decided to stay in house. As already mentioned the Sox lineup has plenty of fire in it, so gambling that a kid who once had a lot of promise might at least be an average player isn’t that much of a risk.
If Martin lasts the entire season without the reoccurance of his previous injury or the appearance of a new reason to go on the DL, it would be fair to pronounce him injury free. Until then, the Red Sox decision to to back away from a big contract for the former Dodger catcher, has to be respected, for what it was…. an attempt to avoid further trouble, especially with the Boston Press Corps. Can you imagine the howling if Theo gave Martin a 3-yr, $20M deal, only to have him spend the year, or a good part of it, on the DL? Shaughnessy, Ryan, & Co. would be conducting street protests, for the TV cameras, in front of Theo’s house! The Yankees signed Martin because they were desperate, to the point of having no other choice but to take the risk.
Were the Yankees ahead of those soccer teams to begin with? Barca, Real Madrid, Man U, Chelsea… those teams spend hundreds of millions of dollars just to buy out a player’s contract, THEN offer the player hundreds of millions of dollars to sign him.
I’d have to research other sources, because I just can’t see a $200m team ever being ranked above the large amounts of money thrown around in soccer.
EDIT: Euros, not dollars for soccer teams… where one euro = about 1.3-1.5 dollars, on average. (That means euros are worth more, for those that flunked math)
No mentioning soccer, it’s a Holy day.
That upcoming book by Bill White is almost a must read. The last of the fair haired appointees or “do boys” in high office of the MLB. This could be one outstanding book, along the lines of Bouton’s Ball Four on a top scale. Am looking forward to this one and didn’t even know it was coming out before.
Hat’s off on this tip by Silverman in the Herald article here.
Brewers are currently carrying 13 pitchers. Brandon Kintzler, who has options, figures to be optioned to make room for Hart. It’s unlikely however, that Almonte who is 3 for 28 survives the return of Nyjer Morgan. Almonte is likely to clear waivers however. Not much market for 33 year old career minor leaguers batting .107.
Also on the bubble right now for Brewers is Sean Green, who’s shaky recent performances makes him expendable when Saito returns. Green too is out of options.
How are the Dodgers an embarassment? More like Frank McCourt is.
Right, the Dodgers are experiencing what many privately held companies experience when the owners go through marriage difficulties, or when there is an unclear line of inheritance, among siblings, when an owner’s death occurs. The players will not feel the reprocussions of the Dodger’s financial difficulties unless the team folds and ceases operations. They will get paid, as though nothing happened…